Abstract:

Distance learning in Law Studies increasingly requires innovative instructional approaches that move beyond traditional online materials to better approximate authentic real-world legal environments. Addressing this need, we developed an interactive, browser-based (WebGL) virtual courtroom serious game that enables students to explore and understand legal spaces remotely. The tool enables users to virtually enter and navigate a courtroom modeled to represent the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), offering an accessible way for users to freely navigate and explore its spatial layout, structural elements, and key features. Designed as a serious game, the Virtual Courtroom emphasizes accessibility, ease of use, and low technological barriers. Because it is fully browser-based and requires no installation, it is suitable for law students and other learners who may have limited technological experience (non-STEM), and through its use encourages digital competency. This experiential exposure is especially valuable for distance-learning law students who rarely have access to real courtrooms and often struggle to visualize procedural settings central to judicial practice.

In the Virtual Courtroom’s fully navigable 3D environment, users can move freely and discover detailed representations of the courtroom’s areas. Interactive hotspots embedded throughout the environment provide contextualized explanations, multimedia, and links to official CJEU resources. This structure supports self-directed learning and promotes curiosity about legal architecture, institutional roles, and courtroom procedures. By integrating gamification principles with targeted pedagogical content, the tool enhances engagement, spatial understanding, and students’ confidence in navigating digital and physical learning environments.

This project illustrates a scalable model for incorporating interactive 3D environments into law curricula. By enabling experiential exploration of spaces rarely available to distance-learning students, the Virtual Courtroom highlights the growing potential of serious games to support authentic, flexible, and institutionally-grounded learning experiences with high pedagogical value in university-level teaching and beyond.

Keywords:

Gamification, Serious Games, Virtual Courtroom, Law Studies, Distance Learning, 3D Learning Environments, Digital Literacy, Non-STEM Learners.